My three day run of shows came to a close by going to see the Subhumans at Logan Square Auditorium. This was my fourth time seeing them I think, I’ve actually lost count now as age must be catching up to me. I like the Logan Square Auditorium, even though I end up shooting from the sides of the stage, it is a good sized room that even when pretty crowded is comfortable and the stage is nice and tall so you can see everything even from the back of the room.
The website said the show started at 8:30pm. I got there around then to find out I missed the first band, Condenada. I was kind of bummed about this because I wanted to check them out as I know one of the members. I guess from what I was told, the show actually ended up starting at 8pm.
Caustic Christ
Caustic Christ
Caustic Christ
Caustic Christ
Not long after I got there, Caustic Christ started playing. These guys had a mid 1980’s hardcore sound that reminded me a lot of something you’d expect to hear on Pusmort Records (Pushead’s old label). They were pretty fast and had that hardcore sound just before the bands started dabbling in metal. They were fast and powerful but not generic thrash either. They were definitely a nice surprise since I knew nothing of them outside of hearing their name before.
World Inferno Friendship Society
World Inferno Friendship Society
World Inferno Friendship Society
World Inferno Friendship Society were setting up their equipment next, and I noticed a few things during this process. First they not only had a regular drum kit, they had another drum set up in the front of the stage. They also were setting up a keyboard, a saxophone, and a xylophone! I also noticed attractive lady band members on the stage, especially the one who was setting up the xylophone and drum (MXV’s rock girl crush number two!) ! This is not like any punk rock I’ve ever seen!
MXV’s newest rock-girl crush (World Inferno Friendship Society)
World Inferno Friendship Society
It turned out they weren’t very punk sounding, they were more of a cabaret band, which could be taken to either be not punk rock, or by the very fact they spit in the face of conventional punk rock music they are the most punk rock! They were really upbeat and the kids went nuts for them. I had no idea what to make of the thing, it confused the hell out of me, but damn it if they weren’t extremely entertaining and the crowd ate it up so much they demanded an encore! Between songs, the singer would tell all kinds of stories and talk to the crowd before introducing their next song.
Subhumans
Subumans
Subhumans
The Subhumans took the stage after all the unusual equipment was removed from the stage. They opened with “Parasite” and the kids instantly started dancing and bouncing about with enthusiasm. They played a whole ton of their older songs and sprinkled some new material in there from the album they just released. I hadn’t heard the new album yet but I can tell you that in a live setting the new songs fit in perfectly with the old ones and have a very similar sound. I ended up purchasing the LP from them after the show which they wisely released on vinyl!
Subhumans
Subhumans
Subhumans
In between songs Dick would speak to the crowd about a variety of subjects trying to inspire thought and change, and would then introduce the next song. At one point they played “Evolution” and followed it up with “Ex Teenage Rebel” which are two of my favorite songs of their’s so needless to say that put a huge smile of my face. I swear if they had played “Love Is…” after that I would have crapped in my pants from the excitement! The band played flawlessly the entire set and they seemed to have a renewed energy about them that they didn’t seem to have when they played last year. I’d say they were 50 percent better than the last time, which was in itself a good show, but this performance was so much better. There was a fairly regular stream of stage divers at one point too.
The band played about an hour, which included a few songs in an encore where one member of World Inferno Friendship Society played accordion with them! It was perhaps the best Subhumans show I’ve seen out of the four times I’ve witnessed them play.
A few more shots can be seen on my flickr stream. Thanks to Jeanine at the Empty Bottle for the pass.
I’m still scratching my head over that World Inferno band.
This was my first time seeing the Subhumans and it was really a fantastic show.
I also, got a chance to see the Subhumans again. I am telling you now, I will definitely go see them again. They sounded a lot better than they did in ’84. Fantastic. Now I am off to check out World Inferno band. Cheers.